Superhero comics can be a great source of horror. Although most superhero-related comics typically dive into more dramatic or earth-saving themes, there are plenty of times when renowned heroes like the Jade Giant, the Incredible Hulk, can become an icon of horror.
Largely thanks to Al Ewings's legendary run on the character in "Immortal Hulk", the Hulk has become a full-blown horror character with each comic showing off some truly dark and disturbing comic moments. From brutal deaths to body horror galore and plenty of disturbing imagery, Immortal Hulk has cemented itself as Marvel's best horror comics with its grim visuals.
10 Hulk Hunts the Criminals
A lot of the time, many readers and audiences believe that horror has to be over the top to get the terror across. While over the course of nearly fifty issues a lot of the terror is in people's faces, when Immortal Hulk begins, the horror is more subtle and suspenseful.
After being gunned down alongside a young girl, the Hulk targets the local gang and shooter who did the deed. Brutally taking them down one by one before revealing himself to the shooter, the Hulk acts almost like a large, green Micheal Myers, stalking his prey before going in for the killing and horrifying blow.
9 Hulk Eats A Scientist
Early on in the comic run, the Hulk is attacked by the Avengers and neutralized thanks to a massive sun laser. Given over to the mysterious Shadow Base, the hulk is taken apart by a scientist and placed in separate jars to be studied. Of course, Hulk being Hulk, he escapes in the most gruesome manner.
Split into different parts, the Hulk uses his dismember hand to snap so hard it shatters every jar, freeing his broken-up parts that come together around the scientist, essentially consuming him as the Hulk forms around him in a truly horrific scene.
8 The Leader Goes Cronenberg
Probably one of the best things to come out of "Immortal Hulk" is the takes on characters. While Hulk gets the most change, many of his friends and villains are inducted into the horror feel, especially the nefarious Leader who mutates into something right out of a David Cronenberg film.
Gruesome and terrifying don't even begin to describe the Immortal Leader or the creature he becomes. From swallowing and mimicking Brian Banner to ripping the Devil Hulk apart and becoming a vessel for the One Below All, the Leader became a true symbol of horror alongside the Hulk.
7 Absorbing Man Breaks Apart
Before the Leader went all monstrous, several other classic Hulk villains went the body horror route as well. After losing time and time again to all sorts of heroes, Carl Creel, The Absorbing Man, was offered a solution by General Fortean, the leader of Shadow Base in the form of a Red Hulk style serum.
However, while Absorbing Man was able to drain the Hulk of his Gamma energy, he inadvertently opened a connection to Hell and to the One Below All, allowing himself to become a vessel. What followed was a gruesome and disturbing scene of Creel's body breaking apart as he was trapped below.
6 Immortal Abomination
Without a doubt, one of the Hulk's more impressive rivals will always be the Abomination. While the Emil Blonsky, the original Abomination has yet to return to Marvel Comics, the Abomination was repurposed almost like a suit of disgusting armor.
Like something out of a vintage monster movie, the Abomination became host to several people from Rick Jones to General Fortean himself. A hulking mess of a monster and with disgusting abilities like toxic vomit, the Immortal Abomination was the perfect scary addition to the series.
5 Betty Becomes The Red Harpy
Bruce Banner and the Hulk have had, like most Marvel characters, some unlikely friendships over the years. Betty Ross has remained one of the more unlikely as she has constantly been an on and off a friend of the Hulk right up until she was killed by the villain Carl Burbank.
Similar to Bruce, Betty came back only as the Red Harpy, an amalgamation of her two previous forms, Red She-Hulk and Harpy. Rarely talking, showing deadly force, and talking about how this new form is her real self, Betty ended up being a force of horror in the comics, even eating the Hulk's heart at one point.
4 Rick Jones Mutates
Like Betty, Rick Jones for the longest time was Bruce's friend. After dying during "Secret Empire", Rick went through a lot. Merging with the Abomination, gaining strange Gamma powers, and becoming a host for the Leader, things only got worse.
After attacking Gamma Base alongside a radioactive being, Del Frye, the two creatures were merged together and their connection to the Leader shattered. Now, Jones and Frye have become a horrific yet sympathetic monster.
3 Hulk In Hell
Just when fans think things can't get worse in comics, they always can. From shocking deaths to intense plot changes, there's always twist around the corner, and Hulk in Hell was one of the biggest ones.
Possessed by the energy of the One Below All, the Absorbing Man lets loose a massive surge of Gamma energy that transports Hulk, Jackie McGee a reporter, and other heroes down into Hell. Throughout the three-issue arc, Hulk and the others encounter disturbing beasts and terrifying imagery in the land below all.
2 The Hulk Rips His Face-Off
"Hulk Smash" has always been an iconic line with the Jade Giant. Of course, given a horror update, that line can become incredibly terrifying. While battling General Fortean in the Abomination shell, the Hulk is dealt a terrible blow when the General spits acid in his face.
Rather than let the acid hinder him for long though, the Hulk proceeds to rip his face off, tearing away the acid and his own flesh at the same time. Saying "Hulk Sngash" through what remains of his ruined face is the stuff of nightmares.
1 The End Of All Things
When everything comes to an end, fans would hope that there would be some kind of hero who can rise above the rest and save the cosmos. When things come to an end in Immortal Hulk though, it's anything but hopeful.
Visited by the sentience of the cosmos at the end of time, Bruce appears to be the last human alive. However, rather than accept the chance to remake the cosmos like Galactus before him, Banner reveals he killed everyone before him as he grotesquely mutates into a multi-mouthed hulk and eats the being. With "Immortal Hulk" reaching its end with issue fifty, fans hope that this won't be the true end.
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